June 30, 2006

To our left were breaking waves and gliding sea gulls. The surf’s roar joined our conversation. To our right lay bleached driftwood at the base of undulating dunes. Each step took us past sand fleas, colorful shell fragments, glistening, tumbled stones and stranded jelly fish.

Those observant ones in our group recognized we were hiking on the beach. I love the ocean. It wrestles with the dynamic tension between its endless energy and its boundless peace. When I stand on the sea shore I’m confronted with both the unstoppable as well as the immovable. God’s presence is palpable.

We passed one jarring note in nature’s symphony. A dead seal lay contorted at high tide’s mark. The light in its eyes had gone out. No more sleek movement through the water. No hide-and-seek with human visitors on the shore. We may describe death as sleep, but it doesn’t seem to be the way creation was made to be.

I could not walk past without being affected. Yet before and after this lifeless form was beauty, power and renewal. Life (or its loss) may punch us in the gut, but as we take a few more steps we can again be surrounded with clear evidence of what God’s desire and destiny is for each of us.

I won’t hide my head in the sand. I will keep walking.

“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

Be at peace,
Pastor Steve